Pulled by a Vision
I was 20 when I first recall being pushed by enough pain to feel the pull of my vision.
Pulled by a Vision
I was 20 when I first recall being pushed by enough pain to feel the pull of my vision.
Most of high school was spent in the darkroom, taking every class that gave me access to shoot and print. Obsessed, I even set up a darkroom in the janitor’s closet. On bad advice, I was told, “Never turn your hobby into a career because you’ll end up hating it.” That left me adrift. At 17, while friends left for college, I fled to the Wallowas or the Oregon Coast with my camera, listening to Peter Gabriel’s Big Time, dreaming of National Geographic assignments.
I imagined funding travel by selling Limited Edition photography, perpetuating collections with each journey. By 21, I moved to Portland, convinced I could fill the void left by Ansel Adams. Despite my timid nature, I knew how to dream bigger than my life at the time.
Instead, I spent 10 more years in food retail, managing stores with record sales. Yet the pain returned, and so did the pull. At 31, I finally said, “If I can succeed at something I don’t enjoy, how well could I do at what I love?” Those years weren’t wasted—I learned to manage people, forecast sales, and read P&L reports. Skills that later helped me survive recessions, injury, and even COVID.
During the shutdown, I found myself wired for uncertainty. While many baked bread or binged shows, I built websites and reconfigured my studio for a new chapter. After creating a painting site for author Graham Salisbury, I realized I was feeding his dream while neglecting my own. It was time to market and sell my photography again.
I revived my fine art work through Double Infinity Art and Gratitudaholic.com, separating it from portraits. But the truth was, I’d been creating fine art all along—sometimes landscapes, sometimes people within them. On 9/12/24, I registered Studio B Photography & Gallery, merging everything under one roof. The “Gallery” now represents both portraits and fine art, simplifying my sites and sharing the full scope of my work.
Through all of this, Cathy’s support has been constant. Asking her to leave her New Zealand home was no small thing. I promised her health to 104 and as many trips back as she needed. At a recent Lake Oswego Chamber meeting, I found myself overcome with gratitude for her sacrifice and the role she’s played in helping this vision take shape.
Though my official business began on 8/1/96, I prefer to celebrate the birth of the idea. Those road trips in 1984 planted a seed that never stopped pulling me forward. Today, I honor both the forty-year-old dream and the brand-new business it became.
Like Gabriel sang: “I’m on my way, I’m making it.” At my own pace, the vision still pulls.
Now that I’ve dusted off that dream, my studio entrance might just lead you to believe I stopped offering portraits. (likely never)
Studio B Gallery Photography & Gallery
